America loves gangsters. From The Godfather to Scarface to 50 Cent, people have always had a fascination with entertainment focused on the bad guy. Glu Mobile’s new Android game Big Time Gangsta is likely to continue that trend.

Big Time Gangsta is a mission-based strategy game in which players assume the role of a convict fresh out of the joint and looking to build-up a crew to take over city. There’s a parade of comically-bad dialogue and elementary set-ups for gameplay, but by the time you finish laughing, you’re suddenly hooked on taking over the criminal underworld of Mission Hill.

Think of Big Time Gangster in the same vein as games like Farmville or Mafia Wars. The key difference here is that instead of harvesting virtual crops to earn money, you’re going on missions to take control of areas to earn protection money; plus there are no live shoot-outs in Farmville. The more areas a player controls, the more protection money can be earned for purchasing weapon upgrades and hiring new goons to help take over the city.

Players participate in 3D shoot-outs to determine who controls an area, and users send their henchmen on virtual missions in order to yield money or “tonic” necessary for taking on more assignments to earn cash. Within time, you’ll build a gang big enough to enter The Arena, a place where waves of shootouts can yield big bucks or injured gangsters.

I once made fun of people who played the mission-style games that require hours of cultivation or purchasing virtual currency (an option also available in BTG) in order to be successful, but I’m still playing Big Time Gangsta a week after downloading. Perhaps its the fun challenge of getting the right balance of offense and defense in shootouts or the desire to beat the game before walking away, but Big Time Gangsta has managed to keep me trapped in the game. Every time I think I’m out, they keep pulling me back in.

I did mention in the video and the text that this game includes virtual currency. i've been playing for a week and haven't paid anything yet. same thing with Gun Bros, which I've been playing for months. it definitely takes longer if you don't pay money, but you can do it the long way. edit: actually I did buy something from Gun Bros to illustrate in-app billing the night it launched. i didn't have to, though.